Furnace-grate.



O. H. ERDMAN.

I FURNACE GRATE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.9,1914.

1,105,636. a ented Aug. 4, 1914,

'axftr more fully disolosod.

to provide an improvod rrato is an and view partially in olaval ion and parillnfllllll iifllli Fjnmzlllcalion o.

implication iiloil lt 'nla'uary 9, 1914. Gloria! No. Ell.

T all whom it may roncern -Be it known 'that l, 'U'rro llnmmu lion- MAN, a citizen of the United States, residing: in the city of Birmingham and lfrltrdio ot Alal'iama, have invented a now and nsolul l urnace-Grato, of which the l ollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to furnace grates and consists in the novel orn'istruclion, com hination and arrangement of parts horeiio generally, is ooi'istructitul, C(fllllTl'lSlllll' a plurality ol hollov: grate hara so constructed to permit tl'o use ol" a forced draft or natural dtntt. as d wired, and upon WlllCll, fuel of various kit may ho horned to substantially complnto uinilinistion. With this olden-t as well as th s t moot oil oortain other specific inuu'ovsd H s of constriuvtion in view, whit-h will ho apparent to those skilled in the art, I havo do signed combined and arranged the sovta'al parts hereim more lully disclosed, rotoronco being made to the. art-ouipauying drawing, in which:-

l iguro l is a broken. plan view oil tho grate construction showing a plurality of the grate bars in l ssemhlod rolat-ion. Fig. 53

The ohjoot of tho invoatitnu tially in section showing); lho armnugoinrnt at a furnace grate embodying my invmition; Fig. longitiulinal section through tho lire hora of a 'furmtoo ei'l'ihodying my invontion.

lo the proiorrod embodiment o'l my invention, as illustrated in tho drawing", my invention comprises 2.: series oi? hollow grato lllll'h pro'lorahly mado in two matching; Stfifllflllfl and supported sido by side to form a 'l'uol supporting bod, with provision for introdm ing' a forced drafllt into .tltfll bar. from whioh it is forced out through tho fuol simporting walls of the bars houoath the had ol' l'uol.

l laoh of tho grate liars oomprisos lower section, proierahly of cast iron, :lormod with inwardly beveled sido walls 1, an inwardly inclined front end 'all it, and a roar \"all 3, and an upper section.

The lmttom section of each bar is provided with an outwardly PXl'Ll'Hllllg flange l ox-- tending from tho front wall 2, and laughs 5 and a flange 6 extending outwardly, rt spoctiwily, from the side walls L and roar end will 3. Tho uppor section oil Qfll'll grato bar t'its over the upper portion of the lower 'olosuro For tho said oponings.

TE: ll't It'd I N (fill it Iii A Ill-AB Alllflilt.

.1 RAW ill soot-ion and rosin" upon the said flanges l 5.

tho upper poi-lion oi. the roar hearing momhor 9.. The: suit: walls 1 oi oatrh lower sec tion are vohnactod llllltl'lllt'iflllllU ot thoir ends lay a taintral holding; lilook ll which serves th dual '1 unrtion ot a h aco for the said side walls and a lnairiu r for tho shaktw bars, as litn'oina'lilur ouplaintufl. The upper face of tho hearing; idook it is beveled to prevent tho zuroumula'l ion thereon of ashos and other ror-iiduo of modulation which sills lo the inside of tho grate ha 5;. The edges of the hearing blocks ii are formed with extended flan; es 123 wl'iioh lit closely upon thoshaker liars l/l.

'lho side walls .l of the lower section of the grate hat-a do not meat at the bottom, but llioz'u roi'naino in oach lower section of the ham. an op -hing; 13 For the removal of tho rial u-ulatious thorein, and also for the ad nnssion of natural dralt through the: ash pit of tho furnace. lhoso openings 13 in tho lmttom oi the gate bars are controlled by a iuill'ltlfi oi? shaker bars. Each of the shaker liars l4 is formed with a beveled or arcuato iaro l4, which when the shaker. bars are mounted in position below the openings in the lOWOl sections of the grate bars, form a For each {Jflnto har l protorto provide two shaker hax-s I l arranged end to end. Extending from thoonds of tho shaker bars .14 are li'unnions 'llS; thom of the forward shaker har lining mounlod in a journal box 17 formed in tho 'lrout walls 2 of (fltll lower section o l tho grain liars, and in a journal 18 formed in tho hlooks l1, and those of the rearward shaker but being journalod in the journal hora l8, and a journal box 15) formed in a? block 90 cast integral with the lower station of tho grate hai. Each of said journal boxes is provided with the usual cap so that tho shaken" llill'S may he readily removed or roplaN d.

' "lho ahnkor liars l=l are mounted to rock in unison, for the purpose of removing accumu- Lens Pa ren lntontod Aug. a, Ill'llllal;

g moaeac a depending arm 21, the transverse series of said arms being connectedtogether for joint oscillation by links 22. Each end of the links 22 is hinged as shown at 23, to an end of an arm of a shaker bar, mounted in each outside grate bar, and the arms of the shaker bars mounted in the intermediate grate bars extend through slots 24 in the links 22. On the lower face of each link 22 are arranged spaced angle plates 24?, disposed substantially intermediate of the length of the links 22. A rod 25 is mounted below said links 22, said rod being ournaled in the fire front 26 of thefurnace and in the rear or bridge wall 10 of the furnace. A lever 27 secured to the end of the rod 25' which extends through the fire front 26 provides means for manually rocking said rod 25. Collars 28 are adapted to be set on said rod 25, said collars having extending arms 29, arranged to engage the angle plates 2 depending from the links 22, when the rod 25 is rocked, thereby imparting to the shaker bars 1a oscillating motion alternatelyopening a space in the bottom of the grate bars at the edge of each side wall. It will be noted, that inasmuch as all surfaces of the parts within the lower part of each grate bar incline to the upper face of the shaker bars, by rocking the shaker bars in the manner described all accumulations can be removed from the bars. Access to the ash pit for removal ofthe accumulations deposited therein may, as will be understood, be had through the usual ash door openin g 30.

At the rear of the. furnace is formed an air conduit 81, for which the rear bearing At intervals, corresponding to the spacing of the grate bars, there is formed in said member 9, which is an integral iron casting, upwardly extending passages or air conduits 32 over the upper edges of which the walls of an opening 33 in the bottom of the respective grate bars are adapted to engage. I prefer to seal or pack the joint between the passage 32- and by placing packing 34: in grooves .35 formed in the matching edges of the conduits. A forced current of air may be introduced into conduit 32 and thence Via the passages 33 to the interior of the grntcbars, from any suitable source.

The upper section of each of the grate bars comprises side walls 36, a front wall 37, a rear wall 38, and a top or fuel supporting wall 39. The front wall 37 extends above the rear wall 38 and above the horizontal level of the fuel supporting wall 39, thus providing an upwardly' inclined surface at the forward end of the bar. This construc'' tion facilitates the removal of accumulations on the face of the grate bars, and provides for ejecting a part of the forced draft at an acute angle to the bed of fuel, thus promoting the combustion thereof.

The top or fuel supporting walls 39 of the grate bars are arched upwardly and are provided with a series of transverse slots or slits 40 through which the forced draft is ejected against the lower surface ofthe bed of fuel supported by the furnace bed, in such a manner that the jets of air will be forced upwardl and obliquely, the jets from, the laterally a jacent slit intersecting eachother, thus delivering'a forced draft to all parts of the bed of fuel. These slits can be made as narrow as desired so that fuel in a.

finely divided state can be supported by "the furnace bed without passing therethrough. Transverse ribs 41 are provided on the inner surface of the top wall to strengthen the web between the slits 1-0.

The upper. and lower sections of the grate bars fit securely together, and are mounted side by side as has been explained. The adjacent edges of the side flanges 5 are spaced slightly apart and the upper edge of each flange is formed with rounded grooves 42. This slight spacing of the bars is required to provide for expansion of the bars under the influence of heat, but in order to prevent a draft from the ash pit entering the lire box of the furnace, I mount hollow pipe 3 in the grooves 42 thereby providing a seal for the openings or spaces between the bars, which will be adjustable to accommodate itself to the expansion and contraction of the'fianges.

I am aware that numerous changes in the construction and arrangement of the parts hereinbefore described may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. 1 do not limit myself, therefore, to exact details but.

1V hat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A furnace grate comprising a series of hollow grate bars arranged with air delivering slits in the upper portions thereof and an ash removing opening in the bottom of the same, each of said bars being provided transverse supporting beams, a series of hollow grate bars supported side by side on said beams, an air supply conduit running transversely across the back of the furnace below said beams, a passage in each of. said bars adapted to receive the air from said air supply conduit, means for sealing the joint between said air supply conduit and said passage opening into said bars, a series of slits through the top walls of said bars for delivering a forced draft to the bed of fuel supported thereon, a longitudinal opening through each of the bgttom walls of said ars, a series of shaker bars pivotally supported below said openings in the bottom of said bars, the pivots being, below the center of said openings, connections between said shaker bars whereby said bars may be operated in unison. to open or .close said openings, and means for adjustably sealing the spaces between the adjacent edges of said grate bars, substantially as specified.

3. In a furnace, the combination of a series of hollow grate bars having openings through their lower sides and laterally extending flanges adjaccntly disposed across the furnace, rounded rods adj ustably closin the spaces between said flanges, a series 0" shaker bars controlling the openings in the lower sides of said bars, and manually operable connections for jointly operating said shaker bars.

gt. A grate, comprising a series of hollow bars, means for supporting said bars side by side, each of said bars comprising an upper and a lower section, the upper section being provided with a fuel supporting wall having a series of transverse slits, a series of depending reinforcing webs on the inner face of said wall and having an upwardly inclined portion at one end thereof, the lower section of each of said bars having converging side walls and an open bottom, bearings formed integral with said lower section at each end thereof, and a bearing in said lower section substantially intermediate of its length, a series of rockable bars pivoted at one end in the bearings formed at the front end of each of said lower sections and at the other end in said intermediate bearings, a second series of rockable bars pivoted in said intermediate bearings and in the bearing formed at the rear end of each bar, said rockable bars being provided with an arcuate face adapted to form a closure between the side walls of each lower section, connections between the front series of rockable bars, connections between the rear series of rockable bars, and manipulative means whereby all of said bars may be rocked in unison in either direction, substantially as specified.

A hollow rate bar adapted for use in a forced draft furnace grate, comprising an upper and a lower section, said upper section having an arched fuel supporting wall provided with a series of transverse slits, a series of depending webs formed integral with the inner face of said fuel supporting wall and disposed intermediate of said slits, the forward end of said fuel supporting wall extending obliquely upwardly and having therein a series of transverse slits adapted to deliver transverse jets of air at an acute angle to the jets of air delivered by the slits formed in the main body of the fuel supporting wall, and a passage entering the lower section of said grate bar for delivering a forced draft to the interior of the bar, suhstantiallyas specified.

In witness whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two-subscribing witnesses.

OTTO HERMAN E RDMAN.

Witnesses:

J. M. IIUML'IHIUGY, Mann S. SANFORD. 

